i need help from anyone who has built a mopar a body

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thanson_mopar

thanson_mopar

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Black Hills, South Dakota
OK, first, this site is the best thing that ever happened to me and my duster, you have a question someone has an answer. parts can be bought at very reasonable prices and i like talkin to mopar guys, im surounded by chevy guys down here and my friends happen to be riceburner guys who dont understand why i like to drive a car thats 35 years old and keep pouring money into it. I am also in high school, 17 years old and working on a gas station job so i am on a tight budget but ive been doing alot of research, dont know what it is about mopar muscle but i seem to be addicted to it.

heres my car 1974 plymouth duster origionaly tan on tan, slant six with a three speed on the floor

so far I have...
-all body work done
-painted 2001 plymouth prowler yellow and added duster rally stripes, and black out hood treatment
-interior changed to black (mother was pissed when she came home to her living room with the complete interior to my 1974 duster spread out all over the house)
-new set of weld knockoff wheels and bf goodrich radial TA's

Id say I have over $5000.00 into the costmetics of my car including paying for the car

she looks good but now i am working on the drive train
heres what i have gathered...
-1990 dodge ram LA 360 engine for rebuild

-650 carter AFB competition series four barrel

-wieand action plus dual plane intake

-comp cam 184 intake lift 191 exaust hydralic

-mopar electronic ignition distributer, mopar perfomance oarnge box, accel super stock coil, street performace wires

-360 heads, fully ported, i just spend 950.00 on having them fully ported (big mistake for my budget but will be well worth the money), larger intake valve (2.02) and high lift valve springs

-cast iron crank and rods (sorry but i just cant afford steel)

-360 car oil pan

Transmision....
-just bought recently rebuilt A-body four speed for $475 (I was told by my mother that I was crazy and no concept of money for paying close to 500 for a chunk of cast iron)

-bellhousing and flywheel for $100

-havent gotten a clutch package yet but I was thinking a street/strip clutch (what do you think?)

-8.25 inch posi rear end, rebuilt

-slant six to small block kit from creative industries

what am i missing?

Now what problems and I going to run into?

whats this I hear about having to do somting with the crankshaft if you run a manual trans?

anybody have any information?
 
It`s great to have the younger generation involved in restoring these cars. Your car will still be appealing long after the ricers are in the boneyards. You`ve got a really good start. Just do what you can afford a little at a time, and save some for a rainy day. Post some pics sometime, I`d love to see your car.
 
Longgone said:
It`s great to have the younger generation involved in restoring these cars. Your car will still be appealing long after the ricers are in the boneyards. You`ve got a really good start. Just do what you can afford a little at a time, and save some for a rainy day. Post some pics sometime, I`d love to see your car.
Click to expand...

There are a FEW of us left, my cousin (same age as I am) just bought a 73 dart swinger with a 318, and 87,000 origional miles, with power disc brakes, copper metalic paint, and alot of options that usualy came with the 340 cars more often. He paid 3,000 for it from an older gentelman that bought the car new, (I was jelous just a little bit) so together we will be rasing hell soon enough

i tried to put two pics of my car on this site but they said that they were to big
 
this is before I changed the interior to black, she just came out of the paint booth

vbgarage-1.jpg


vbgarage.jpg
 
Here are a few things you will still need to address.

The drive shaft will be to long and will need to be shortened 1.5" when installing the 8.25 rear end. In the Boston area where I live you can get it cut and balanced for around $75.

The slip yoke on the front of the drive shaft will not fit the 4spd tranny. The yoke from a 4spd or 727 auto car will fit. They can also be purcahsed new and the drive shaft shop should be able to get one. For me it was less expensive through the shop than places like Year 1.

If the crank is not drilled or drilled to size for the pilot bushing you have several options. 1) have it drilled when the engine machine work is being done. 2) If it's drilled undersize NAPA has a special thin wall bushing for this so no machine work is required. 3) use the roller bearing used in the late model trucks. It fits into the torque convertor register hole on the crank but it will require cutting an inch or so off the eend of the tranny input shaft.

You will definately need a bigger radiator to go with the 360. A factory replacement heavy duty v8 radiator should work fine.

The z-bar that actuals the clutch from the slant 6 is two long to use with the v8. Two options here. 1) Purchase the correct bar from someone like Brewers Performance or 2) cut about an 1 1/4" from the engine side of the slant 6 bar. You may also need the ball stud bracket that bolts to the bell housing if you don't have one on the bellhousing.

The 8.25 will have big bolt pattern so if your car currently has 9" drums they will be small bolt pattern and the wheels will not fit the 8.25. Also, if you have 9" drums you should be thinking about an upgrade to disk brakes before puttin in the 360.

Your cam numbers don't sound right; you mention 184 / 191 if those numbers are duration at ).050" or advertised duration or even lift in the cam lobe that is a very very very small cam.
 
dgc333 said:
Here are a few things you will still need to address.

The drive shaft will be to long and will need to be shortened 1.5" when installing the 8.25 rear end. In the Boston area where I live you can get it cut and balanced for around $75.

The slip yoke on the front of the drive shaft will not fit the 4spd tranny. The yoke from a 4spd or 727 auto car will fit. They can also be purcahsed new and the drive shaft shop should be able to get one. For me it was less expensive through the shop than places like Year 1.

If the crank is not drilled or drilled to size for the pilot bushing you have several options. 1) have it drilled when the engine machine work is being done. 2) If it's drilled undersize NAPA has a special thin wall bushing for this so no machine work is required. 3) use the roller bearing used in the late model trucks. It fits into the torque convertor register hole on the crank but it will require cutting an inch or so off the eend of the tranny input shaft.

You will definately need a bigger radiator to go with the 360. A factory replacement heavy duty v8 radiator should work fine.

The z-bar that actuals the clutch from the slant 6 is two long to use with the v8. Two options here. 1) Purchase the correct bar from someone like Brewers Performance or 2) cut about an 1 1/4" from the engine side of the slant 6 bar. You may also need the ball stud bracket that bolts to the bell housing if you don't have one on the bellhousing.

The 8.25 will have big bolt pattern so if your car currently has 9" drums they will be small bolt pattern and the wheels will not fit the 8.25. Also, if you have 9" drums you should be thinking about an upgrade to disk brakes before puttin in the 360.

Your cam numbers don't sound right; you mention 184 / 191 if those numbers are duration at ).050" or advertised duration or even lift in the cam lobe that is a very very very small cam.
Click to expand...

thanks, the cam was a typo, its 284/291

I knew that the drivshaft was going to be long but didnt know exactly how much

I was thinking I would have to get an aluminum radiator but are you sure a heavy duty 360 radiator will do? We have 100 degree plus weather here in the summer and I want it to be able to stay cool idling
 
Avoid aluminum radiators if you can get a new or rebuilt copper/brass (not trying to dig up that old argument). The stock V-8 radiator from an A/C car should be fine. Use a good clutch fan and a shroud. A-bodies never had a reputation for running hot so if everything is working well you should be fine.

You'll need an exhaust system, headers are a "you get what you pay for" type deal, but there are several good choices for the later A-body. TTI makes some really nice stuff, and their prices ought to get your mother spun up.

if you don't have disks, add them before you even think about the 360. I would rebuild the front end adding at least .870 bars, and gas shocks, and a sway bar before you swap as well. This should get you set up with a nice driving SAFE car. Fast ratio (manual) steering would be icing on the cake!
 
C130 Chief said:
Avoid aluminum radiators if you can get a new or rebuilt copper/brass (not trying to dig up that old argument). The stock V-8 radiator from an A/C car should be fine. Use a good clutch fan and a shroud. A-bodies never had a reputation for running hot so if everything is working well you should be fine.

You'll need an exhaust system, headers are a "you get what you pay for" type deal, but there are several good choices for the later A-body. TTI makes some really nice stuff, and their prices ought to get your mother spun up.

if you don't have disks, add them before you even think about the 360. I would rebuild the front end adding at least .870 bars, and gas shocks, and a sway bar before you swap as well. This should get you set up with a nice driving SAFE car. Fast ratio (manual) steering would be icing on the cake!
Click to expand...

I think ill go with a heavy duty 360 stock radiator then (aluminum is expensive), i was thinking a mid priced set of hooker headers, but brakes are a problem. it seems to cost an arm and a leg to buy a disc brake setup for abody, so i might run with drums until i can afford to buy a set. i have a set of small block torsion bars, and kyb competition gas shocks. My car already has manual steering box that i can leave in for a while.
 
I highly recommend that you do the brakes before the engine even if it means putting the engine off for a year or two. I did the suspension, brakes and rear end upgrades while the the \6 was in the car.

I drove my 68 Barracuda with the stock 9" drums for a year before swapping in disk brakes. The 9" drums were fine around town when the speeds were below 40 mph but out on the hi-way it was scary if you need to stop in a hurry. The 360 in my car will push the car over 100 mph in a 1/4 mile and easily bury the speedo past 120 mph in just a a second or two more. If you have the 360 in the car you will push it and the 9" brakes are just not up to the task with that kind of power.

Your car should take a 26" wide radiator without the need to cut up the core support so I would think the heavey duty v8/AC radiator will do fine. I have a 22" heavy duty v8/AC radiator in my car and the temp has never risen above the point on the gauge the t-stat controls at.

I run big block torsion bars (.890") with KYB gas-a-just shocks and the car handles very well with them and rides like a modern car. The car came with the the \6 heavy duty suspension which includes the .850" torsion bars that came standard in 318 cars, I would higly recomend the .890 bars and at minimum the .870" heavy duty sb bars that came with the 340 cars.

Also, one of the most satisfing upgrades I have made to my car was to get rid of the manual steering and install power. Going down the road the effort on the manual was not an issue but the 24:1 ratio made me feel like I was holding the wheel of the Titanic and in a parking lot, espeically with 235/60 tires it was a royal pain in the but. The 16:1 power ratio is quick and with the suspension upgrades the response is instant. I aligned the front end with as much caster as we could get in to improve the feel people complain about. I would like some more feel but it's not bad and is a huge improvement over manual steering.
 
dgc333 said:
Here are a few things you will still need to address.

The drive shaft will be to long and will need to be shortened 1.5" when installing the 8.25 rear end. In the Boston area where I live you can get it cut and balanced for around $75.

The slip yoke on the front of the drive shaft will not fit the 4spd tranny. The yoke from a 4spd or 727 auto car will fit. They can also be purcahsed new and the drive shaft shop should be able to get one. For me it was less expensive through the shop than places like Year 1.

If the crank is not drilled or drilled to size for the pilot bushing you have several options. 1) have it drilled when the engine machine work is being done. 2) If it's drilled undersize NAPA has a special thin wall bushing for this so no machine work is required. 3) use the roller bearing used in the late model trucks. It fits into the torque convertor register hole on the crank but it will require cutting an inch or so off the eend of the tranny input shaft.

You will definately need a bigger radiator to go with the 360. A factory replacement heavy duty v8 radiator should work fine.

The z-bar that actuals the clutch from the slant 6 is two long to use with the v8. Two options here. 1) Purchase the correct bar from someone like Brewers Performance or 2) cut about an 1 1/4" from the engine side of the slant 6 bar. You may also need the ball stud bracket that bolts to the bell housing if you don't have one on the bellhousing.

The 8.25 will have big bolt pattern so if your car currently has 9" drums they will be small bolt pattern and the wheels will not fit the 8.25. Also, if you have 9" drums you should be thinking about an upgrade to disk brakes before puttin in the 360.

Your cam numbers don't sound right; you mention 184 / 191 if those numbers are duration at ).050" or advertised duration or even lift in the cam lobe that is a very very very small cam.
Click to expand...



dont forget the flywheel needs to be for a 360 external balanced engine. ive seen them in a very few trucks, but they are available new.
 
I have to third the brake sentiment, change 'em first, ESPECIALLY if it is a daily driver.. drums are scary enough with a /6
 
player1up said:
I have to third the brake sentiment, change 'em first, ESPECIALLY if it is a daily driver.. drums are scary enough with a /6
Click to expand...

anybody have a decent of disc brakes, that i could bolt on? Ive been looking through aftermarket companies and i just cant afford them
 
I've seen some low cost Disc brake kit on ebay. But you really get what you pay for with those. You will need a new Master-Cylinder for the Disc setup. The only hard part to find is the spindles/knuckles for disc. The rest of the stuff you need you can get from the parts store.
 
73-76 A-body brakes aren't hard to find, just somewhat overpriced. You should be able to find spindles, upper control arms (which you may not need), rotors, adapters and calipers for about $200. New rotors range from way cheap imports to not too expensive name brand parts. Loaded calipers are pretty cheap as is a NEW master cylinder. You have spent a lot of time and money making a good looking, and hopefully good running car. It would be a shame to see it get trashed or you get hurt because you didn't a few hundred more dollars making it stop and turn.
 
If you can find the 73-76 spindles and upper control arms everything else is as close as your nearest autozone or Advance.

New rotors are $45 each (US made)
New bearings are approx $20 for all four
Rebuilt loaded calipers are about $25 each
New brake hoses are $10 each
Rebuilt master cylinder is about $20
If you can't score a factory proportioning valve with the spindles and control arms an aftermarket adjustable one is about $35

If you can find the control arms and spindles in a bone yard in my area they will charge about $50 for both sides.
 
Nice ride you have going there dude.

AFB's are 600 or 625's which are not any larger in actual cfm rating, just that the 25 is an emissions number on the carb. Just a note to nit pick, but actual cfm knowledge is important.

IMO, I'd skip the orange box for a chome one if your sticking with a MoPar box.
Fully ported heads are a case of to much head for the build, but will support lots of room to grow. The cast crank is fine.

Street strip clutch is a good idea. Do not get the race units. Your legs will thank you on your first traffic jam. The cranks poilt hole may have to be drilled to accept the trannys snout into it. Get a bearing to help size it up. Actual diamentions escape me.

I did a /6 to 318 swap with the kit your getting and the drilling of the driverside pearch is something you'll have to be careful with. The driverside Hooker headers (Comp series or AKA street headers) are a crazy close fit and a royal pain to get in. Very crazy tight all around. I did a Jegs ( I think or Sumitt) exhaust kit. For a power searching set up, you'll want to add a "H" pipe and different mufflers. Click here; http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=10508&page=1&pp=20
 
nice lookng duster,,,,glad your not driving a rice rocket,,they may pas you at the gas pump,,but they wil stop and give you thumbs up at the red lite,,,

search for A-bodiesonly and this site for people selling brake conversation stuff,,its out there 73 and up A body disc brake stuff will work fine,,its way better then drums,....good luck keep us posted,,and welcome to the mopar family,,,,your wallet will never be fulll,,,
 
i have access to a 35,000 origional mile parts car 77 volare. (it had been rolled early on in life) . It has power disc brakes, i could have them for free if i wanted. Anybody see a problem with that?
 
I have heard conflicting stories on whether the volare spindles will work or not. I believe they are taller and the issue that ups for dicussion as I recall is that the relation ship between the upper and lower control arms change and it will adversely impact the action of the front suspension.

Everthing else will work just fine though.
 
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